2023 NFL Breakouts: Second and third-year defensive players ready to explode ft. ft. Drake Jackson, Daxton Hill and more

#8, Daxton Hill, Cincinnati Bengals (Safety)

AFC Divisional Playoffs - Cincinnati Bengals v Buffalo Bills

Coming to Ann Arbor as a five-star recruit in 2019, Hill started all 20 games in his final two (of three) seasons there and his ball production increased every year. As a junior, he recorded 69 tackles, 4.5 of those for loss, two passes intercepted and 11 more broken up, earning himself first-team All-Big Ten accolades.

His growth as a player combined with elite physical testing (with his 40 and the agility drills between the 87th and 97th percentile respectively) made him the penultimate selection in the first round last year.

However, due to Cincinnati’s safety tandem of Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell staying healthy all year and them having an elite nickel in Mike Hilton (who was healthy for 14 games), Dax played just 163 total snaps on the year (including playoffs).

He played more than six defensive snaps just three times across the 18 games he was available for (19 Week 8 at Cleveland jumping in for CB Chidobe Awuzie late, once actually starting and playing 89% of snaps in place of Mike Hilton at Tampa Bay (Week 15) and then nine snaps in the Wild Card playoff game against Baltimore).

However, now with both safeties having walked since in free agency (both to the NFC South by the way) the workload is about to increase in a major way and even though some of it certainly had to do with the way Cincy’s organization handles contracts. The fact they were comfortable moving on with Hill becoming an integral piece of what they do defensively, is a sign for optimism.

Looking at Hill’s usage as a rookie, 70 of his 130 total snaps on defense were spent in the slot, while 19 of those at right corner all came in Week 8 at Cleveland, when he jumped in late. Even though it was a very limited sample size, the raw coverage numbers as the next-closest defender were pretty abysmal, as he allowed seven of eight targets to be completed for 56 yards and two touchdowns (passer rating of 135.4).

However, re-watching all those 86 snaps in pass defense, I think there’s plenty to get excited about. From his one game with legit extended run playing (largely man coverage) at Tampa Bay, the one thing that was immediately apparent about Hill was how much of an easy mover he is. He has tremendous lateral movement skills to slide in front of the receiver’s release and use his hands to impede their progress, taking control of those reps early.

I saw him absolutely blanket some typically challenging pivots or delayed flat routes on rub concepts. Yet, he also has the flat-out wheels to not let receivers get a step on him releasing full speed off motion. Dax clearly isn’t worried about getting run pastvertically thanks to having that 4.38 speed, being comfortable with sticking to the hip pocket of his man and keeping himself ready for a potential break.

He excels at swatting down and pinning the arm of guys he’s matched up with, to where it affects their route-running significantly without getting flagged in the process (only one defensive penalty for pass interference in the regular season, although six more on special teams).

When somebody can stick with Mark Andrews on a deep over route playing from outside leverage – one of the toughest jobs for any defender – that makes me perk up. Hill also shows nice range and ability to mid-point route patterns as basically an overhang or flat defender in zone coverage. And whether it’s playing top-down or from a trail position in man, he typically eliminates any YAC opportunities.

With that being said, as impressive of an athlete as he is, Hill doesn’t mind sticking his face in the fan at all when it comes to the run game, approaching bigger bodies coming his way and making sure the ball carrier goes backward.

He uses his hands to pro-actively attack the chest of blockers and really locks out with his weight out in front, in order to not allow those guys to take control of him. I saw him set the tone at contact and stay ready to disengage from some of the most physical blocking WRs in the NFL, looking at Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and others.

Dax showcases the football IQ to immediately replace as the slot receiver across from him shoots inside to crack back on a linebacker or safety, as well as take on blockers leading out to the corner when he was lined up on the edge of the box against 12 or 21 personnel.

Along with that, he has a knack for navigating around traffic, dipping away from blockers out on the perimeter and shutting down plays like fly-sweeps and screen passes.

Cincy blitzed him a couple of times off the slot, where his short-area burst and ability to bend as he flattens down the line really stood out. He missed just one of 17 tackling attempts, although it, unfortunately, did result in a (meaningless) touchdown by Russell Gage in that Bucs game I referenced earlier (where he tried to stop the receiver short of the goal-line on a quick in-route off a semi-rub concept). Overall, that resulted in a run defense grade of 71.5 by Pro Football Focus.

Looking at the weaknesses of Hill’s game as basically a true senior (in college), who had just turned 22 years old, at 192 pounds he might have some issues matching up with bigger bodies, who understand how to use their frame to their advantage.

He’s certainly not immune to getting nudged off at the top of the route by crafty wide receivers and allowing some separation that way, in particular when they push up the field initially and then plant to get across the grain, as they step into his space.

Plus, he’ll need to be careful about how grabby he gets in order to slow down his guy when playing in trail, which in part is due to how much stack technique he used at Michigan.

While his usage in zone coverage was even more limited to evaluate, the one thing he could improve upon in that regard is the way he finds and attaches to targets late in the play clock (rather than ultimately covering grass in zone coverage, dropping to a spot and locking in on the quarterback as the pattern has developed).

I certainly like the increased aggressiveness Dax showed in the way he approaches blockers. But learning to actually play with leverage and funneling the ball toward his teammates is something he’s still learning. And we have very little proof of him taking the appropriate angles when working up from depth.

Because the tape I could watch on Hill was so limited, I actually went back to the preseason in order to see him at deep safety a few more times. There, we saw him fly around the field with impressive instincts and play-making skills.

Going back to the very first time we saw him on an NFL field against the Cardinals, he had a couple of very impressive moments, separating the tight-end from the ball on a bender driving down from single-high alignment and getting a near-pick in the end-zone blanketing a corner route by the number three in trips.

Plus, the next week he showed nice hands coming up with a diving interception off a tip-drill against the Giants. What has me excited about his prospects as a full-time starter is the versatility to play center-field one snap, but then cover one of the most dangerous receivers of the opposite team man-to-man the very next, when they want to bring pressure.

Now pairing him up with a highly underrated Nick Scott (coming over from the Rams) and another versatile guy who’s played everywhere in Nick Saban’s secondary at Alabama in Jordan Battle, I believe we see DC Lou Anarumo continue to cook. He can muddy the picture and use his guys on the back-end in creative ways.

The most promising of those is Hill, who other than raw size has the complete package and I didn’t think we saw any lack of physicality. I believe with his explosiveness to flip and cover ground, we could see them lean more into single-high structures.

Other breakout defenders for the 2023 NFL season

EDGE Azeez Ojulari

EDGE David Ojabo

EDGE Arnold Ebiketie

IDL Devonte Wyatt

IDL Travis Jones

LB Brian Asamoah II

LB Nakobe Dean

CB Cam Taylor-Britt

CB Derek Stingley Jr.

CB Cobie Durant

SAF Nick Cross

SAF Quentin Lake

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